A good friend of mine, now sadly departed, did a tour of ops as a Village Inn gunner with 49 Sqn. He was trained as a pilot but on arrival at his squadron was one of 12 'volunteered' to re-train as gunners on this new, 'secret weapon'. Apparently it was reckoned that pilots were smarter than the average gunner! His opinion of the equipment was not very complementary, having been u/s 40% of the time.
RIP Hugh, old boy. I still miss you terribly!